


misdirect(ed fate)

by Perce



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Rating May Change?, may add more tags later, origins au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 04:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7252192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perce/pseuds/Perce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There must be a mistake!” She knew it had to be true; something must’ve gotten confused along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	misdirect(ed fate)

“Hey, Alya, uh, do you have a pencil or something I can borrow for class? I think I forgot one, ugh.”

“Yeah, sure, girl, one sec…” Alya opened her bag to grab her spare pen, and while it was definitely there, so was a box she knew she’d never seen before. She got the feeling it was special, important. Maybe it was the unique design on the top, she wasn’t sure. She  _ did _ know she would be looking into it the next chance she got, though. Not yet. “Here you go!”

The smile Marinette gave her was relieved. “Thanks, you’re really helping me out here.”

“It’s just a pen, no big.”

When Mylène rushed in —without Ivan—she and Marinette shared a concerned glance, and when roll call started and Ivan still hadn’t returned, they began to fidget. Adrien making a fool of himself was amusing, at least.

Less amusing was Stoneheart barreling through the door, proceeding to then kick a hole in the wall and leap out with both Mylène and Chloé in hand.

Definitely nothing to laugh at, but certainly a prime opportunity to slip away without question. Ladybug wouldn’t be showing up right away after all, she could get more footage then.

What compelled her to hide in the bathroom, Alya wasn’t sure. She was glad she did, though, when a ball of light emerged from the mysterious box. With villains and heroes about the city, she couldn’t bring herself to question the orb of light, or the small creature it faded into. Only why it had come out of a box she  _ hadn’t put in her bag _ .

She couldn’t help but feel offended when it sighed at the sight of her.

“What’re you?”

“You must be Alya. My name is Tikki. I’m a kwami, and—”

“What’s a kwami?”

“I’ll answer your questions later, but currently there are more pressing things to be dealt with,” Tikki sighed again. “Right now, what you need to know is this: Call out  _ Lucky Charm! _ when you’re in a pinch and need to end the fight—” Alya opened her mouth to inquire again. “Not now. Once you do that you only have five minutes before your transformation wears off. The other is that you have to break the object the object to release the akuma—the butterfly, which I believe you’ve already seen—then catch it in the yoyo to purify it. Afterwards, to fix the damage, you say  _ Miraculous Ladybug! _ Also, you mustn’t tell anyone you’re Ladybug. Do you understand?”

“What happened to the previous Ladybug?! Is she okay? Where’d she go?”

“This is not the time for that; do you understand what you need to do?”

“Fight, charm, catch and purify, fix, and done? But how do I—”

“To transform, you need to have the earrings in and simply say  _ Transform Me! _ ”

Alya popped the black studs in. “Fight, catch, fix. Okay! Let’s do this! But just know, Tikki, I’m expecting answers later!  _ Transform Me!” _

The magic that spread over her skin felt tingly and warm; which was all Alya was able to discern, as it was too bright to look at, similarly to when Tikki appeared from the box. It was over quickly enough, and she immediately went to inspect herself in the mirrors. “So cool! Hair up is probably good for all the moving around, smart choice, Tikki.” She rarely put her hair in a ponytail, but she supposed having such long hair it made sense. Really fit the aesthetic too, in her opinion. Spotting the yoyo on her hip threw her off, however. “How do I use this? Tikki, if you can hear me from wherever you went, how does this work?”

_ “It’s a magic yoyo, you throw it with purpose and it will follow your command. I can try to help guide you, but there’s not much I can do beyond already lending you my power.” _

Alya vaguely wondered if she should be more surprised at Tikki’s voice echoing in her head than she was, but like Tikki said, it wasn’t the time for that. “Cool, okay, so just throw it and it does the rest?”

_ “More or less.” _

“Good enough for me.”

 

* * *

 

 

She didn’t get that footage of Ladybug, unsurprisingly. She did get to meet Chat Noir though, and he seemed pretty cool, if seriously oblivious. He didn’t even realize she and the previous Ladybug weren’t the same person. Then again, it seemed no one did, so she supposed she couldn’t blame him. She was glad actually, since her identity apparently had to stay secret. A real-life superhero. Secret identity and all. She could practically feel herself eating up the praise and attention, but she couldn’t help it. Even seeing to Chloé being safe and with her dad was a boost. It felt good to save the day and be admired.

She shared wide grins with Chat Noir at the base of the Eiffel Tower, Mylène and Ivan having wandered off behind them, and when he held out his fist, she remembered what he and Previous Ladybug had done the day before. “Bien joué!” His ring beeped and she figured that was their cue to leave.

“See you around, Chat Noir!”

“And you, Ladybug!”

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe I was too late to get anything for my blog! By the time I got there, everything was already over!” Alya felt bad about lying to Marinette, of course, but it would’ve been weird to change her story so suddenly, it would have made Marinette suspicious. Her stunt earlier might not’ve been caught, but she couldn’t be too careful.

“Next time for sure, Alya!” Marinette giggled.

Would it have killed her to not be so supportive? “Yeah, hopefully! Maybe I could even score an interview!” Then again, she might’ve just dug her own grave.

“Ooh, I’d love to see that!”

_ Me too _ , Alya thought. They meandered to class lazily; no one was even sure why school had been reopened after all of the commotion.

Class was dull: typical second day procedure with a dash of ignoring Chloé and Adrien. Near the end of the day it had started raining, which made the bike ride home interesting, but Alya was too distracted by all the questions she had lined up for Tikki to really care one way or another if she got soaked or not.

“Do I finally get to ask my questions now?”

She’d rushed to her room—as much as you can past younger siblings—with a “Really busy so don’t disturb me!” ready to get down to business.

“Could I get some cookies first?” If the request hadn’t baffled her so much, she might’ve commented on how adorable Tikki was with her head tilted to one side.

“Cookies?”

“Ahh, yes, I need sustenance to keep me energized so I can transform you at a moment’s notice. I prefer cookies, the sweeter the better!”

“Yeah, sure…” Not entirely what she was expecting, but she could work with this. Cookies. Sounded like she’d have to keep some on hand.

Slipping out into the kitchen was awkward, but a comment about needing snacks to focus got her relative peace. She was grateful they were stowed away out of reach of her youngest sibling, they’d’ve been all gone otherwise. Tikki seemed to enjoy the simple chocolate chip cookies she’d presented her with, so Alya figured she was off to a good start. She settled on her bed with pillows propped behind her as Tikki munched before her on the quilt.

“Alright,” Tikki started as she finished off her second cookie, “you have questions. I’ll try to answer as much as I can.”

“I can’t know everything?” She slumped down. Shouldn’t she be prepared for anything?

“No… Not right away, at least. Dropping a lot of information on you at once wouldn’t be a very good idea.”

“Alright, I guess that makes sense.” Alya only took a moment to decide her official first question, “What happened to the previous Ladybug?”

“That’s complicated,” Tikki answered quickly, only to pause briefly in contemplation, “however, you having been at and filming the first battle will at least help keep people from suspecting you.”

“That’s true. Say, how come people didn’t at least realize I wasn’t the Ladybug from yesterday? Kinda doubting that a  _ mask _ is all that’s keeping people from figuring me out.” It really didn’t make sense, surely if she had seen Previous Ladybug unmasked she’d know?

“All part of the magic of the suit, a glamour it’s called. The only thing that can break it is irrefutable proof, such as seeing you transform.”

Alya perked up. “A  _ glamour _ ? That’s awesome, how does that work?”

“Are you asking me the intricate workings of magic?” Tikki giggled.

“Is that an  _ option,  _ because woah I—”

“No, it’s not, I’m afraid. We’ll stick to what’s directly relevant to you for now.”

Alya sighed. “ _ Fine. _ So fine details of magic are off limits, and I’m guessing any details about the Ladybug from yesterday are, too?” She could dream, she’d really love to talk to her. And ask what had happened.

“Yes.”

She slumped back into herself a little. There went nearly a fifth of her questions. “Hm… Oh! Can I at least know why I have the miraculous?” That was still focused on herself, right?

Tikki’s pause made her wonder what sort of answer she was going to get and if she was going to regret it. “Someone decided you’d be a good fit for this.”

Well that wasn’t so bad, it was actually rather flattering. “So I’m like a  _ Chosen One _ or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Who’s the one who picks people to hold a miraculous?” She was quickly building up the image of a powerful magical person—or maybe another kwami? Do kwamis have a hierarchy?—who watched over everything and plucked out heroes from the masses in her mind.

“Someone you’ll likely get to meet soon enough, but not yet. When it’s time.”

“Well that’s not ominous, okay then.” At Tikki’s laugh, Alya figured it was either not meant to come across that way, or entirely was, she wasn’t sure. “So I’m not supposed to tell anyone, right?”

“Absolutely no one must know who you are,” Tikki verified with a firm nod.

“Even Chat Noir?”

“Even Chat Noir.”

“But he’s supposed to be my partner, right? Why couldn’t he know? We could be friends outside the masks and bond, and that sounds like it’d be good for our dynamic, I think.”

“You mustn’t, I’m sorry, Alya.” 

She scowled.  _ You don’t look very sorry. _   
“Can I at least know  _ why _ I can’t even tell him?”

Tikki let out a little breath and looked her in the eye. “It’s for the best.”

“That sounds like an excuse, not a reason.”

“It’s the best I can offer for now.”

The following silence was drawn out and mildly uncomfortable. This pertained to her! Why couldn’t she know? Logically she understood there probably was a reason, one that was bigger than her and maybe she just wasn’t ready to handle it yet, but Tikki could have at least  _ said that. _

Finally Tikki spoke up, “Any other questions?” She had a small, kind smile, so Alya figured she at least didn’t blame her for her curiosity.

“I guess, now that we’re not in a rush, can you explain the whole deal more?” She shrugged. “You kept it super brief earlier.”

When Tikki’s smile became wider, heartier, Alya figured she was back in safe territory again. “Well, I think you have a good idea of your powers after having used them,” Tikki looked to her for confirmation so she nodded, and Tikki continued, “so the yoyo. It does more than act as your mode of transportation and means of purifying akuma.”

“Really?” What else could she need it for?

“For starters, with a click to the center spot, you can contact—call, video chat, send messages and images—to Chat Noir via his baton.”

“What’s the cell service like? We’re not gonna end up with dropped signals in bad weather or something, are we?”

Tikki’s tinkling laugh made Alya feel foolish. “It’s magic, Alya, that won’t be an issue.”

She flushed. “Right. I knew that.”

“It’s a valid concern in this day and age, don’t worry.” She thought a moment before continuing. “Also, by spinning your yoyo, it will function as a shield for you.”

“A shield? If I need that wouldn’t Lucky Charm just give me one?”

“Lucky Charm is more of a final resort, and not all akuma are like Stoneheart, some will send attacks your way that you’ll be better off blocking than trying to dodge. Technically though, if a proper shield is what you need, yes, Lucky Charm would give you one.”

“Right, losing the transformation and all that, that makes sense. But the akuma vary? Why?”

What Alya assumed would be Tikki’s brow scrunched together. “No one is the same; not in situation nor emotions. Hawk Moth will morph them not only to suit his needs and what he thinks is best, but also however is fit for the predicament they’re in.”

Something about that made Alya uncomfortable. She looked at her hands resting in her lap as she spoke. “I… I can’t be turned into an akuma, can I? Or Chat Noir? Because that sounds like it’d be really bad. For everyone.” Alya glanced up for reassurance.

The sympathy in Tikki’s eyes was apparent. “No, anyone who’s ever bore a miraculous couldn’t be a potential victim of Hawk Moth. You and Chat Noir are safe from that much.”

“Oh thank god… Wait. Is this why it’s safer for people to not know?”

“That’s correct.”

“That still doesn’t explain why Chat Noir can’t know.”

“It’s just better to limit who’s aware. The less the better, especially now.”

“Especially now? What do you mean?”

“It’s still all very new. Between adjusting to what it’ll take to be Ladybug, and knowing so little about Hawk Moth, keeping it to yourself is your safest option. No need to juggle more secrets than necessary.”

_ Get used to your own before trying to balance someone else’s along with it. _

Alya decided she’s not going to get anything more from this line of questioning, based on the prior attempts. “What about you? Earlier you called yourself a kwami: what does that mean?”

“Ah, “kwami” is shorthand for quantic kami; I’m a god, you could say.”

“A god. Okay, sure, why not. Are you, like, a god  _ of  _ something?”

“Creation, hence the function of Lucky Charm. I also embody luck—or what people in other places would refer to as good luck—as ladybugs do, even though that’s based on their resemblance to me, but I digress. Chat Noir’s kwami is my opposite. He is the god of destruction, and embodies the absence of luck, or bad luck.”

Alya raised her eyebrow, “So you guys, like, counteract one another?”

“We prefer to think of it as balancing each other, but I wouldn’t say that’s wrong either,” Tikki replied thoughtfully.

Alya suddenly bounced in her seat in excitement as she put it together, “And that’s why Chat Noir and Ladybug are a team; one wouldn’t be balanced without the other!”

Tikki beamed and did a twirl in the air. “Indeed! And having balance sounds important while doing risky things, like fighting, doesn’t it?”

“It does!” Alya let out a breath as she settled back down. “This explains  _ so _ much.  I was kinda wondering, since I’m the one who purifies, but that makes sense. It’s more than that.”

Maybe it was her imagination, but Tikki seemed to glimmer brighter than before. “I’m glad you understand! Having a good grasp on the roles each of you play will be quite useful. Anything else?”

“Well I do want to know what happens with you when I’m not needed as Ladybug. Do you go anywhere? Am I supposed to take the earrings out?”

“It’s best if you keep them in as much as possible; ideally you would wear them constantly. As for where I go, that will depend on you; I need to stay with you at all times in case of emergency, which means you’ll have to find a place to hide me. If cookies can be kept there as well, or at least nearby, I’d appreciate it!”

“Well that rules out my hair then,” Alya snorted. “My… Hm, maybe my school bag? I don’t want you getting crushed by my books or something though…”

Tikki laughed. Alya noticed how very tinkling-sounding it was, like a wind-chime. “Your hair could work in a pinch, though I’m small, I can easily just fit underneath your shirt as well, or jacket on colder days. For long periods of time, like during your schooling, or when you’re moving around a lot, I’m sure your bag would be fine.” 

“Especially if there’s cookies?”

“Especially so.” Tikki appeared pleased. “Anyway, I think this is a good stopping point. We’ve covered important basics and have semantics dealt with. Later on, when you have more first-hand experience, we can do something like this again. Of course, if anything comes up in the meantime, I’ll always be here. For now, I believe you have classes tomorrow?”

“Shoot, homework!”

**Author's Note:**

> finally making my ml fic debut lol   
> i've been wanting origins aus to be a thing since the episodes aired, and considered this scenario not too long ago. i have more ideas for this i can work with, so if people are interested in more alyabug, i'll do my best! feel free to talk to me over on my tumblr @[raikou](http://raikou.tumblr.com/)


End file.
